(24–37) “Has the account of Abraham’s honored guests reached you? * When they entered upon him ⦗810⦘ and said, ‘Peace!’ he replied, ‘Peace! You are an unfamiliar people.’ * Then he slipped away to his household and brought a fat calf. * He set it before them and said, ‘Will you not eat?’ * He conceived a fear of them. They said, ‘Do not fear,’ and gave him glad tidings of a learned son. * His wife then came forward with a cry, struck her face, and exclaimed, ‘A barren old woman!’ * They said, ‘Thus has your Lord said. Indeed, He alone is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.’”

Allah Most High says: “Has the account of Abraham’s honored guests reached you?” That is, has their strange and wondrous story not reached you? They were the angels whom Allah sent to destroy the people of Lot. He commanded them to stop by Abraham, and they came to him in the guise of guests.

“When they entered upon him and said, ‘Peace!’ he replied”—in answer to them—“Peace!” meaning: Peace be upon you. “You are an unfamiliar people”; that is: You are people unknown to me, so he wanted them to identify themselves to him. He did not recognize them until later.

He therefore slipped away to his household—that is, he went quickly and discreetly to prepare their meal—“and brought a fat calf. He set it before them,” inviting them to eat, “and said, ‘Will you not eat?’ He conceived a fear of them” when he saw that their hands did not reach for it. “They said, ‘Do not fear,’” and informed him of the purpose for which they had come, “and gave him glad tidings of a learned son,” namely Isaac (peace be upon him).

When his wife heard the glad tidings, “she came forward,” joyful and delighted, “with a cry, and struck her face.” This is the kind of speech and behavior that women may display when overcome with joy [and the like], departing from their ordinary disposition and custom. “She said, ‘A barren old woman!’” That is: How could I have a child when I am an old woman who has reached an age at which women no longer give birth? Moreover, I am barren, and my womb is entirely incapable of bearing a child. Thus, there were two impediments, either of which would prevent her from having a child. She mentioned the third impediment in Surah Hūd when she said: “And this husband of mine is an old man! This is indeed a wondrous thing.”

“They said, ‘Thus has your Lord said’”—that is, Allah, who decreed it and brought it to pass. There is therefore nothing astonishing about the power of Allah Most High. “Indeed, He alone is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing”; that is, He places all things in their proper places and encompasses everything in knowledge. So submit to His judgment and thank Him for His blessing.